Unbelievable Little League Story.

[ESPNFan]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...814/index.html

I'd love to hear what the take on this is here.

[The Dude]

That's disgusting. Especially since he knew exactly what happened to him.

[Zito75]

Sounds like the same coach who was paying players to bean weaker players on his own team... That's just not right!

[Elvis]

Not cool at all and not very sporting. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrell and calling it sport. I wouldn't have walked him to face the cancer patient. Imagine the cancer patient was a pitcher and they kept bunting on him. Some will do anything to win even if it's cruel and unkind. Great lesson in humanity to teach these kids.

[Mike D.]

The line "I'd have done the same thing. It's just good baseball strategy" is very telling.

Does anyone else find it wrong that when we're talking about 9 and 10 year olds, that "baseball strategy" comes into play at all?

If you're a coach of little kids, and you're playing to win, you should go buy a copy of MLB 2006 for Playstation, and leave little kids alone. It's not about you and your manager fantasy, it's about the kids having fun.

Ugh...disgusts me.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Even if the kid didn't have cancer, I would have ordered my pitcher to pitch to the best batter. It is a GAME for crying out loud. Everyone should have a chance to bat. They were in the lead, so probably they would have won it anyway.

I can only think of one word to describe this coach: PATHETIC

[Honus Wagner Rules]

If the cancer kid was so weak that he could have severely injured himself why is he even playing in the PONY League? The parents can't have it both ways. They want their son to be treat normal but also be be treated "special" when it counts. Tha'ts hyocrisy! Also if baseball is supposed to be fun and not about winning then why is there a championship game? Does this league keep stadings and stats? Isn't that against the spirit of "fun"? People are so PC that they don't understand that kids love to compete. I know I did at that age. I wanted to win ever game and crush my opponent everytime. I wanted to take the pitcher deep every time. I played baseball because it was fun and I wanted to win. One year I played on a Little League team that went 2-21-1. Do you think that was much "fun" for our team?

[ivylover]

Coach=big *******! even if the poor kid was batting .400 i would have pitched to the slugger.

[willie24fan]

That just smells like a bad move to walk the batter to get to the next batter. At least go after the batter, its not about Barry Bonds and the World Series.

However, instead of us "lucky/normal" people answering, the people who should be giving the insight are those who are somewhat disabled, how would they want to be treated? Just like any other player? Well, then walk the guy in front and pitch to me, that's why I'm playing right?

Yes, you want to win, but not at the cost of embarrasing someone. Especially not blatantly with an intentional walk in a Pony League game. Championship game, whatever, its still 9 and 10 year olds. You win by going at their best player, not picking on the weakest link.

[PopTop]

Honus, I played on a team that went 0-17-1, struck out with the winning run on third in the game we tied. I still have a lot of great memories about that team and can barely remember some of the details about other teams I played on that did win.

I'm in agreement here with Honus. If this kid is so sick he can barely make it through the day, he probably shouldn't be playing in a league that is competitve like this one. I'm not a heartless person, and can take a lot of pity on this kid and his family. And at the end of the story, it sounds like this will only make him a bit tougher and more resolute.

I'm curious about something here: Did the Red Sox only have nine players? We only read about one at bat here. Did the sick kid bat before this? Was he subbed in, did he start? We don't know the answer to that just reading this story. If he was subbed in, then part of me thinks his coach might also be rethinking his 'strategy' to not start the sick kid, then pull him for another and not put the sick kid, or his team, in this position to begin with.

[Say Hey]

If the cancer kid was so weak that he could have severely injured himself why is he even playing in the PONY League? The parents can't have it both ways. They want their son to be treat normal but also be be treated "special" when it counts. Tha'ts hyocrisy! Also if baseball is supposed to be fun and not about winning then why is there a championship game? Does this league keep stadings and stats? Isn't that against the spirit of "fun"? People are so PC that they don't understand that kids love to compete. I know I did at that age. I wanted to win ever game and crush my opponent everytime. I wanted to take the pitcher deep every time. I played baseball because it was fun and I wanted to win. One year I played on a Little League team that went 2-21-1. Do you think that was much "fun" for our team?

I agree 100%.

[ESPNFan]

Just my opinion but I was never in a "competative" league where there was a cap on runs scored during an inning. Also there probably isnt much thought given to "baseball stratagey" in the league if batting a sickly child is your idea of giving protection to your teams best hitter. And I don't know about any of you guys experienced it but I can't remember a Intentional walk given to anyone until I hit Babe Ruth League.

[538280]

There's a lot of hypocrisy (like HWR said) coming from the parents in that story. They want their kid to be treated normal, and yet are upset when the coach makes a "normal" play (isn't that what happens in real baseball games? Yes!). They basically want him to be treated normal but then at the end want them to treat him special. Sports should be about competition, regardless of age.

[ESPNFan]

There's a lot of hypocrisy (like HWR said) coming from the parents in that story. They want their kid to be treated normal, and yet are upset when the coach makes a "normal" play (isn't that what happens in real baseball games? Yes!). They basically want him to be treated normal but then at the end want them to treat him special. Sports should be about competition, regardless of age.

Trying to treat a disabled child normaly is one thing. Don't you think taking advantage of obvious disability to secure victory is something else entirely?

[RuthMayBond]

Quote from the article:

Farr thinks the Sox coach is a hypocrite. He points out that all coaches put their worst fielder in rightfield and try to steal on the weakest catchers. "Isn't that strategy?" he asks. "Isn't that trying to win? Do we let the kid feel like he's a winner by having the whole league play easy on him?"

[Elvis]

True Story:

In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters
to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in
Chush for their entire school career, while others can
be mainstreamed into conventional school. At a Chush
fundraiser dinner, the father of a Chush child
delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by
all who attended. After praising the school and its
dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the
perfection in my son, Shaya" Everything God does is
done with perfection. But my child cannot understand
things as other children do. My child cannot remember
facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's
perfection?" The audience was shocked by the question,
pained by the father's anguish, and stilled by the
piercing query. "I believe," the father answered,
"that when God brings a child like this into the
world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way
people react to this child."

He then told the following story about his son, Shaya.

One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park
where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.
Shaya asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all
athletic and that most boys would not want him on
their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his
son was chosen to play, it would give him a sense of
belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys
on the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy
looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting
none, he took matters into his own hands and said,
"We're losing by six runs, and the game is in the
eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team, and
we'll try to put him up in the ninth inning."

Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.
Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play in
center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning,
Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by
three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team
scored again, and now had two outs and the bases
loaded, with the potential winning run on base. Shaya
was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let
Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance
to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew
that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't
even know how to hold the bat, let alone hit with it.
However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher
moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya
could at least be able to make contact. The first
pitch came in, and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.
One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya, and
together they held the bat and faced the pitcher
waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a
few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward
Shaya. As the pitcher came in, Shaya and his teammate
swung the bat, and together they hit a slow ground
ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft
grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the
first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that
would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took
the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field far
beyond the reach of the first baseman. Everyone
started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first."
Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered
down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time
he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball.
He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman
who would tag out Shaya, who was still running!!

But the right field understood what the pitcher's
intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far
over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run
to second, run to second!" Shaya ran toward second
base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled
the bases toward home. As Shaya reached second base,
the opposing shortstop turned him in the direction of
third base, and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya
rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him
screaming, "Shaya, run home." Shaya ran home, stepped
on home plate, and all 18 boys lifted him on their
shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a
'grand slam' and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now
rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their
level of God's perfection".

----------------

It seems to me that Little League's first priority should be to build character, not win at all cost.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Trying to treat a disabled child normaly is one thing. Don't you think taking advantage of obvious disability to secure victory is something else entirely?

Well, I liked the attitude of the sickly kid. Instead of pouting about it he went to work trying to improve his hitting so that one day he might be the guy that gets walked. The kid "gets it"! And the parents do not.

By the way, the next morning, Romney woke up and decided to do something about what happened to him.

"I'm going to work on my batting," he told his dad. "Then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk."

[PopTop]

Just my opinion but I was never in a "competative" league where there was a cap on runs scored during an inning. Also there probably isnt much thought given to "baseball stratagey" in the league if batting a sickly child is your idea of giving protection to your teams best hitter. And I don't know about any of you guys experienced it but I can't remember a Intentional walk given to anyone until I hit Babe Ruth League.

Different organizations and different age groups have different rules. In our LL, we don't even keep standings until the 'majors' level, which is predominantly 11-12 year olds. I never even played in a dad's pitch league growing up. Our Pee Wee division was kid's pitch, period. It's not that way any longer.

All I'm saying here is we're supposed to judge a coach or coaching staff by an article written to tug on our hearts and get a lot of hits on the 'net. We don't know the whole story. What happened during the rest of the season when this kid took the field or came to bat?

If a kid like this signed up for our league, I can tell you that we would try and hash out the situation BEFORE he ever took the field. And we might ultimately have to make the decision that he simply could not play in the majors level because there was too much risk of him getting hurt. The fact the town is split over this incident, according to the story, suggests to me that there's a whole lot more to this story than one dadgum at bat.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

True Story:

In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters
to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in
Chush for their entire school career, while others can
be mainstreamed into conventional school. At a Chush
fundraiser dinner, the father of a Chush child
delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by
all who attended. After praising the school and its
dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the
perfection in my son, Shaya" Everything God does is
done with perfection. But my child cannot understand
things as other children do. My child cannot remember
facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's
perfection?" The audience was shocked by the question,
pained by the father's anguish, and stilled by the
piercing query. "I believe," the father answered,
"that when God brings a child like this into the
world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way
people react to this child."

He then told the following story about his son, Shaya.

One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park
where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.
Shaya asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?"
Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all
athletic and that most boys would not want him on
their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his
son was chosen to play, it would give him a sense of
belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys
on the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy
looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting
none, he took matters into his own hands and said,
"We're losing by six runs, and the game is in the
eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team, and
we'll try to put him up in the ninth inning."

Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.
Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play in
center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning,
Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by
three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team
scored again, and now had two outs and the bases
loaded, with the potential winning run on base. Shaya
was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let
Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance
to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew
that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't
even know how to hold the bat, let alone hit with it.
However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher
moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya
could at least be able to make contact. The first
pitch came in, and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.
One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya, and
together they held the bat and faced the pitcher
waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a
few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward
Shaya. As the pitcher came in, Shaya and his teammate
swung the bat, and together they hit a slow ground
ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft
grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the
first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that
would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took
the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field far
beyond the reach of the first baseman. Everyone
started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first."
Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered
down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time
he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball.
He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman
who would tag out Shaya, who was still running!!

But the right field understood what the pitcher's
intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far
over the third baseman's head. Everyone yelled, "Run
to second, run to second!" Shaya ran toward second
base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled
the bases toward home. As Shaya reached second base,
the opposing shortstop turned him in the direction of
third base, and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya
rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him
screaming, "Shaya, run home." Shaya ran home, stepped
on home plate, and all 18 boys lifted him on their
shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a
'grand slam' and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now
rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their
level of God's perfection".

----------------

It seems to me that Little League's first priority should be to build character, not win at all cost.

Great story.

[Mike D.]

Great story, Elvis.

I think between that story and the one in ESPN, the moral of the story is obvious...adults suck.

I think organized sports are awful. When I was a kid (and I'm only 30), I played sandlot ball..and everyone played, everyone hit, and even when problems arose, we found ways around it to keep the game going.

[Astro]

Pretty sad, I do not remember EVER seeing an intentional walk when I played little league

[Ubiquitous]

Late to the party, but I don't the blame the coach. The kids parents probably wanted their son to have as normal a childhood as he could. Situations like these where it is possible to fail are normal for children. You can't put your kid out there in normal society and want everybody to treat him the same only when it favors your kid. Sometimes being treated normally is going to go against your child. That is life, you can yell and complain and treat your kid like a victim and those conspiring against him as the villains but that won't do any good for your child nor will it help him grow up to be a well adjusted adult. It appears that Romney did what I would hope someone in his position would do which is work harder to become better. Which if this hadn't happened, if they had given him special treatment, he would have less desire to improve himself. The actions of those who wish to protect him from hurtful feelings would have been doing him a disservice.

[Mike D.]

To those who seem to think the coaches are in the right here...you really think coaches should be calling for intentional walks in little league games so they can win games?

Why? Wouldn't it be better for the pitcher to pitch to the big hitter, and either win or lose based on his abilities? Isn't it better for the big hitter to do the same? Whatever happened, the players woudn't have been crushed, and they'd have won or lost on their own merit, not on the workings of some coach who thinks he's Tony LaRussa or something.

I think the less adults have to do with kids playing (other than making sure they're safe), the better.

[blslivewire]

This coach is a peice of trash. Strategy my ass. They're kids. I hope his wife bitches at him non stop for a year(like I have to hope).

All this tough love talk is ridiculous. They have the rest of their lives to be treated like dirt in the real world, let them feel ok about themselves for 15 minutes when they're 10.


Does anyone think if the "best hitter" had been pitched too and won the game, that a 10 year old would second guess the coach about an intentional walk? IBBs don't happen in little league anyway. And if the kids were upset, they'll get over it and learn a lesson.


When I was 10ish and in little league, I hated to lose too. Hell, I hated games ending in a tie.
But then I grew up.

If you want to take a competetive approach to life, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to take that attitude into a game. Especially into one where your job is to teach impressionable children. If this coach is such a great strategist, let Jim Leyland step aside and he can take over a major league team and see how much Confusious here can teach us.

Treating someone who isn't as fortunate as you differently and-god forbid-helping them out isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of human decency-something this world and this culture severely lacks.

[Astro]

To those who seem to think the coaches are in the right here...you really think coaches should be calling for intentional walks in little league games so they can win games?

Why? Wouldn't it be better for the pitcher to pitch to the big hitter, and either win or lose based on his abilities? Isn't it better for the big hitter to do the same? Whatever happened, the players woudn't have been crushed, and they'd have won or lost on their own merit, not on the workings of some coach who thinks he's Tony LaRussa or something.

I think the less adults have to do with kids playing (other than making sure they're safe), the better.

The goal is to win, in any game.... while I think it is sad he walked him, it was, indeed, smart if you want to win...

I agree with Ubiquitos 100%, the way to avoid this happening dont let the kid play, if he wants to play you have to expect things like this